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My long build of a 1940 56S


kingrudy

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The pictures below are when I purchased the car in 2009 a short distance from my house in Southern California. I had a new radiator put in the car, new brakes, tune up and generally checked all of the mechanical systems. Then I mad my first mistake, I took the car to a shop that was recommended by someone to have the car given a body on restoration. Six years later I got most of the car back and I am doing all of the work that I can (a lot of money has been spent on very poor work) to get this car on the road. I am starting from the front of the car and working my way to the rear, having to do several things over again that weren't done to what I consider acceptable standards. Some parts that I did not receive and still looking for are: rear gravel guard, wiper linkage, lever assembly for cowl vent, door lock mechanism (passengers side), upper trunk guide, steering column support and steering column floor plate. The third picture is how the car looks today. I will post additional pictures as work progresses. 

Mike  

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Hello all

Yesterday I completed the installation of the door latching mechanism on the drivers side and it work beautifully. The steps taken were the removal of the mechanism and soaked it in paint thinner for two days. Removed this from the paint thinner and wire brushed all of the remaining junk out of the part and  let dry for a day. On day three I checked the latching mechanism to make sure it would slide easily and hit it with some lithium grease. I forgot to mention, this all began when I grabbed the outside door handle and it came off in my hand. The door handle should have been held in place by an 8-32 tapered screw (Restoration Specialties) the "restoration" shop had left this out when they put some of the car back together. This tapered screw can be difficult to install as it must go through the door handle and into a barrel fitting that needs to line up just right. This will require some patience if you don't do this all the time. Drivers side complete and the return spring work great as well as the latch, no more droopy door handle.

Today I removed the  passengers door latching mechanism and I figured this would be a breeze, because the drivers side gets more use. Right? Wrong, the "restoration" guy got a little creative on me and altered some of the parts (see attached photo). Can you spot the sheet metal screw holding the return spring and the missing piece the holds the rod that connects to the door handle operator? I did some head scratching to see if this could be rebuilt and decided the return spring would be a problem. So got on the interweb and started looking at scrap yards.  Found the part in Minnesota and he will ship this week, I'm a little nervous about what this part will look like, but I was assured that he would not ship junk.

The first picture below shows the mechanism in the car, far left middle of the pic note the sheet metal screw used to hold the return spring for the latch. Note the allen screw used with the chrome washer used to hold the rod in place that connects to the door handle (removed in second pic). I will post finished product when done. Note: I checked my parts book (good thing to have) and this part only listed as good for the 1940 Super and Roadmaster. The part numbers are different for '39 and '41, somewhat narrows the field. Found a '40 Super in North Carolina, but he would only sell the entire car and it did not look good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by kingrudy
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That's a great looking car, glad you are sharing the pics with us.  What a bummer to hear about the "restoration" shop.  The few give the rest a bad reputation.  Looks like you moved, too.  I see a different garage with background scenary that doesn't look like CA at all.  

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Yes, I purchased the car from a guy just outside the San Fernando Valley (close to LA), very dry climate. The car spent all of it's life in California. I retired last year and moved to Asheville, NC.

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Wow, that was quite a cross country move.  I now see the Ashville address.  There are some Buick guys somewhat nearby in Charlotte.  Have you joined the BCA and looked into the local BCA chapter?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I purchased a lock mechanism from a salvage yard in Minnesota (see picture below). The one on top is the one I bought and the one below is from my car. The one that I received from Minnesota is missing the brass cylinder that the door handle inserts into. When it was removed from the car, with a torch he must have pulled the cylinder out also. The back is bent also, so even if I had the cylinder, it would no longer fit into the frame. Well, I thought I'd have some fun with rust, as you couldn't hut this piece any more than the abuse that it has already received. I put in a container of Evapo-rust for 12 hours and then pulled it out of the solution and rinsed it in hot water. I dried it with a heat gun and it came out looking brand new. I certainly was amazed. The lower part shows no rust, but is missing parts also. The brown color is the original paint, Aztec Brown. I could never warm up to that color. I would post a picture of the part without the rust, but I'm experiencing some technical difficulties. 

 

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Edited by kingrudy
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A nice car !

 

The drivers door get more use, so not unusual to more problems than other doors

 

The best source of pre war Buick parts is Dave Tacheny in Champlin, MN 55316. He specializes in 1936-1941 Buick parts. He is old school: no email. The best way to contact him is to call him between 4 and 7 pm Central at 763-427 3460.  http://forums.aaca.org/topic/206688-dave-tachney/

 

 

 

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Hello Jay,

When I decided to change the color from the green, I consulted my wife (good to get her buy in). She suggested that I pick a color that was available for the 1940 Buick. I have a page from Acme Proxlin that has color samples attached. The color that we picked is called Royal Maroon No. 5530-A. Under the color it states, 737 Deep Maroon...... Fill to 55- 1/2 and 836 Luminescence .....Fill to 56. The Buick color number for that year is 544. I have received many compliments on the color, both from pics and in person. I have to credit my wife. 

Mike 

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I'm finishing a 25 Dodge Brothers roadster and want to do it in a nice deep burgundy.  I've looked at that color as an option but haven't seen it in person.  Some maroons start to look brown and I'm not looking for brown.  I'm thinking of having some mixed to do a spray out.  I also have a 31 Buick 8-96 that eventually may end up in a nice burgundy too.  So I will look into the Royal Maroon.  Thanks, Jay

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I may be wrong, but I thought that Dave Tachney was more of a '37-'38 guy than a '40-'41 guy.  Doug Seybold in Ohio is a good man to talk to about '40-'41 parts.  He doesn't do email, but his phone number is 440-835-1193.  My car is also Royal Maroon, and I get a lot of compliments as well.  Great choice!

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Thanks Mike.  I have been to that site and picked out several colors that I would like to get spray outs done for or see an actual car in the colors.  Royal Maroon was one of them. The small chips don't really tell the story.

 

Just curious.  Did you have the car painted in a single stage or base coat/clearcoat.  I'm being told I should do BC/CC for durability and easier application.

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Hello Jay,

I had it done in Base coat/ Clear coat, but it was done six years ago and I'm in need of touch up in a few areas. I have the card and you are right, it is hard to tell what the color really looks like. I had a draw down done on a 8x11 sheet and then you can really see what you are getting. 

 

Mike

Edited by kingrudy
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Hello Neil,

I have been in touch with Doug for a number of years and he is a great guy with a wealth of information on our cars, but I have spent a lot on my cars restoration and his prices are a little bit high. So to keep my wife happy I'm trying to be a little careful on what I spend on parts.

Thanks, 

Mike 

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I understand perfectly.  I just got some things from Doug.  They were sent promptly and were exactly what I wanted, but they were not cheap by any means.  If you're willing to take your time, you can undoubtedly find things for less money.

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 I think that the colour Royal Maroon would be a good one. This is personal, as I decided to paint my '41 Roadmaster coupe in that colour early on in the restoration. I can honestly say, that I have had more compliments of it and the colour than any other car I've had. It is the same colour as Neil's and there are a few pictures of it on the site here, if you're interested.

 Keith

 

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Keith - I would love to see more pics.  I'm leaning towards this color and have been for a while.  As I mentioned earlier I'm just concerned that some maroons do take on a brownish hue and I don't want that.  I have seen the Auburn and Packard maroons and they seem on the brown side.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Some success and a small setback today. I worked on the drivers side window and found that the shop had put the wrong size screw (bottom) and when you rolled the window up or down the gears would interfere with the winder. Happened to have the correct length screw and all was well. Next I thought that I would check the vent window and found that you could push the vent window open without using the regulator. After using some choice words for the owner of the shop that had the car for six years I found the regulator to be broken (not that way when it went into the shop). I removed the two screws, one shown on lower left and tried to remove the regulator, but it will not budge. I looked in the Body Manual for '39 and '40 Page 25 Operation 60 and the shaft bolt (gone) and the retaining screws and all that this operation mentions. Does anyone out there have any ideas?

 

Thanks, 

Mike  

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Hi Mike:

 

I am currently working on the doors of my '41, which have similar hardware to your car.  First of all, the injury to the vent window regulator that your car has suffered is very common.  So far, I have determined that two out of four of my doors have this injury.  (I haven't gotten into the other two doors yet.)   The regulator shaft is made of pot metal, and it's quite fragile and breaks easily if someone gets carried away with tightening the bolt that attaches the vent to the regulator.  Or it may even be possible to break the shaft if someone goes crazy with the crank trying to either open or close the vent.

 

As far as the problem of not being able to remove the regulator, can you post a photo that shows a wider view?  On my car, the vent regulators are secured with four bolts -- two lower ones like the one you show in the photo you posted and two upper ones which also secure the vent window frame to the door.  Here's a photo of one of my rear doors (the fronts are similar, but I don't have a photo handy).

 

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Or could it be that the vent regulator is stuck in place because the shaft from the vent is still jammed into the regulator?  Have you tried removing the vent window frame and the vent window?  Hope that helps.

 

Neil

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Thanks Neil for the quick reply.  I read the Body Manual once again and it does say to remove the screws on the body panel. I thought that it was just two screws. I will follow your lead on this one. Do you know if these regulators are used on any other years, or is this specific to 1940 and 1941? 

Thank you, 

 

Mike 

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As you can see from Ken's post, these vent regulators were used in Buicks for many years (in addition to Cadillacs, Pontiacs, and Oldsmobiles).  GM literally made millions of them.  There are two versions -- the shaft for the crank is either on the left or the right depending on whether the regulator is for a front or rear door and for the left or right side.

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Thank you both Neil and Ken for the quick reply.  I read the Body Manual once again and it does say to remove the screws on the body panel. I thought that it was just two screws. I will follow your lead on this one. Do you know if these regulators are used on any other years, or is this specific to 1940 and 1941? I will work on picking up these parts as soon as possible. 

Thank again, 

 

Mike 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Had a great day yesterday working on the car. First I was able to find all four of the small carriage bolts (see pic below) used to connect the cowl vent to the frame under the dash. I will post pictures after this is complete. With the pile of nuts, bolts and washers that I received when the car was returned to me finding these small parts sure picked me up. The second success was getting my brake lights working. I had the car rewired in California and when the car was delivered in January the brake lights did not work. I have some basic electrical skills, but I am by no means an electrician. I found voltage at the pressure switch and jumped this across the switch, no luck. I tried testing the continuity from the switch to the tail light. There was no continuity (getting close). I purchased an inexpensive cable tracker and connected the power to the pressure switch, after I disconnected the battery. I switched the power source to "tone" and started at the switch. I didn't have to go far. just underneath the dash I found a disconnected wire, connected the wire and toned it all the way to the brake light. I disconnected the cable tracker and jumped across the brake switch and brake lights work great. It sure seems like the little things that kick your butt.

 

Mike 

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Hooray!  Having bought a totally intact, properly running, and more or less correct car, I can only imagine your frustration at this point!  That sounds like a great day, indeed.  I'm confident that you are going to have your beautiful Buick in great shape very soon.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Good news and bad news...... the cowl vent is installed and works great. the small carriage screws  provide some adjustment, front to back when the vent is closed and this takes a little bit of tinkering. Also the base of the handle used to open and close the vent is a bit of a challenge to secure while you are standing on your head, but all is in and adjusted properly. The bad news came when I removed the ignition key and re inserted it and turned on the ignition. I smelled smoke and the cable that attaches to the coil was very hot (this is bad). I let it cool down and removed the coil cap and the total ignition, making sure that the two wires leading to the ignition were marked. I found the coil wire (looks original) insulation had grounded out to the coil cap. On the bright side, good thing this happened in the garage. I sent the part to Doug and he will rebuild the switch and run a new wire from the ignition to the coil cap. The rest of my car has been rewired, this is the last piece.

                              This is the original style coil hard steel cable in my hand attaches to back of coil. Wire is junk and grounded to coil case. Below is the ignition inside the car, black cable goes through the firewall.

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While waiting for the ignition to come back from the shop, I looked at the rear quarter windows and I do not have a clue as to how these are sealed. Can someone provide some pics of an existing, unmolested car? 

Thanks, 

Mike 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I sent the ignition out and I thought that would come back quickly, but I was wrong. So I started working on the trunk. This is a pic of what I found under the mat. Floor is pretty, but I found some surface rust and general discoloration. All seems solid, so I lightly sanded, vacuumed out, steel wooled and vacuumed again. Then I took a tack cloth to all metal surfaces. I started out with a Rustoleum product  that they claim is a rust converter. I always to get rid of as much rust as possible by sanding and cleaning, finally using steel wool and then using the rust converter for the last little bit. The second pic is after stage 1 with all above steps completed. Tomorrow I will start applying the Rustoleum oil based gloss black, by rolling it on the flat surfaces and brushing on the corners and cracks. More info soon

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Finished with phase two having sealed all trunk surfaces. Painted all metal surfaces under the trunk lid and the wooden back of the rear seat. The next step will be to sand and seal the lid for the small compartment behind the seat (I left the original burlap liner). I figured that it had been part of the car for almost 80 years and it was intact. Also, I need to replace the wooden luggage tray and figure out how to make a wooden cover for the tool compartment at the front of the trunk, then carpet with appropriate material.

 

On a separate note, I received a bumper this morning after searching for the past two years. This bumper was already plated and I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg. My mission is to complete this car while still keeping to a reasonable budget. It can be done. 

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Side Note here, I was in Ohio yesterday and I stopped by to see Doug Seybold. He spent some time with me touring his shop and the collection of unique cars that he has. I asked him some technical questions regarding some repairs that had me stumped and he showed me examples of what I was trying to achieve. Real nice guy and I appreciate the time that he spent with me. 

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Received a previously owned door lock mechanism from Greg Johnson today, see pic below. This is the fourth one that I have worked on for the car. The drivers side was my learning experience that took me three hours to figure out how to remove and install the tapered screw that holds the door handle in place. Now I know not to rush the process, apply plenty of lubricant to the screw and gently work the screw a quarter turn at a time while holding the door handle torqued just a little bit to line up the screw with the hole at the edge of the door. There is a very good chance that if you are looking for one of these parts the person removing the door handle will not be very gentle. Pay him extra to use a little patience and finesse, because if you don't the brass piece that receives the door handle shaft will be turned to junk. I have been down this road.

 

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Today I worked on trunk trying to duplicate the cover that fits over the section that holds the jack. I first made a template tracing the contour of the rear of the car inside of the trunk. Thanks to Ken Green who supplied a picture of what an original trunk should look like, this helped a lot.  I used the template to cut out a piece of 3/4" plywood and thought I had it going pretty well until I tried to install it in the car. After sever minor alterations, I figured out that I was way off track and looked at the picture again and started over with the original template. Cut the piece out and with one small alteration to the opening for the "spoon" that holds the spare tire in place I came up with a good fit. One thing that threw me off is that the ledge is one inch deep on the ends and two inches deep in the middle. See pic below for final result, more work on the trunk to follow.

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